What is a Breathing Pattern disorder?
Breathing Pattern Disorders (BPD), also known as Dysfunctional Breathing, is a term used to describe abnormal breathing patterns that result in breathlessness and other symptoms, often without the presence of illness. Some ways we describe these abnormal breathing patterns include:
- Over breathing or hyperventilating - breathing faster or bigger breaths than normal
- Mouth breathing - a loss of normal nasal breathing at rest
- Upper chest breathing - the increased use of the accessory breathing muscles in the neck, chest and shoulder area instead of recruiting the main breathing muscle, the diaphragm and lower intercostals
- Erratic breathing patterns with regular breath holding, sighing or yawning
"I just can't take a deep enough breath"
We hear this phrase quite frequently in our practice. People with breathing pattern disorders often feel like they aren't getting enough air or oxygen, but in reality they are breathing too much! Symptoms can be obvious - like feeling short of breath, but sometimes symptoms don't seem to have a direct relationship with your breathing. Traditional testing often doesn't pick up on breathing pattern disorders and people can go for years undiagnosed. The good news is that breathing pattern disorders are well treated and managed with physiotherapy-led breathing pattern rehabilitation.
How we can help
We have years of experience working with people with unexplained breathlessness and other symptoms - there isn't much we haven't heard of when it comes to breathing!
After a thorough initial assessment, we will help you understand the connection between poor breathing and your symptoms. Then, we work with you to retrain your breathing pattern in resting postures such as lying, sitting and standing positions. Learning to breathe well will also help achieve a deep state of relaxation which will often help people manage symptoms of anxiety, enhance recovery and promote quality sleep. Through this breathing pattern retraining process, you will become much more aware of how you breathe and will learn how to correct your own breathing pattern. With time and practice, it will move from being a very conscious practice initially to something you do more automatically.
We will also consider how you breathe with movement and activity, while talking and even while working and typing. We may prescribe breathing exercises to reduce CO2 sensitivity, and if weakness in your inspiratory muscles is evident, we will set you up with a strengthening programme using POWERbreathe devices.
With the help of breathing pattern retraining programmes, you will be able to catch your breath properly, relax more easily and use your breathing effectively in your everyday life and activities.
After a thorough initial assessment, we will help you understand the connection between poor breathing and your symptoms. Then, we work with you to retrain your breathing pattern in resting postures such as lying, sitting and standing positions. Learning to breathe well will also help achieve a deep state of relaxation which will often help people manage symptoms of anxiety, enhance recovery and promote quality sleep. Through this breathing pattern retraining process, you will become much more aware of how you breathe and will learn how to correct your own breathing pattern. With time and practice, it will move from being a very conscious practice initially to something you do more automatically.
We will also consider how you breathe with movement and activity, while talking and even while working and typing. We may prescribe breathing exercises to reduce CO2 sensitivity, and if weakness in your inspiratory muscles is evident, we will set you up with a strengthening programme using POWERbreathe devices.
With the help of breathing pattern retraining programmes, you will be able to catch your breath properly, relax more easily and use your breathing effectively in your everyday life and activities.